


if there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes

by kadaransmuggler



Series: just two kids, stupid and fearless [3]
Category: Mass Effect, The Grisha Trilogy - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Angst, F/F, SO, but here we are, i borrowed the part from ruin and rising, i didn't even mean for this all to be in liara's point of view, this is angst, this is kinda sad, uh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-18
Updated: 2016-02-18
Packaged: 2018-05-21 11:44:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6050353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kadaransmuggler/pseuds/kadaransmuggler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alina Shepard and Liara T'Soni are finally reunited, but there is still a monster looming in the dark, something that must be dealt with. After another long year of planning, they are finally ready to end the war they have lost everything fighting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	if there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes

The bathroom floor was bitingly cold on the bottom of Alina’s feet, and the counter dug into her spine, but Liara tasted like blueberries, three long years of waiting, and something that could only be described as home. Alina kissed her like her life depended on it, and maybe it did, with the way that Liara kissed back. The grip on her hips was almost bruising and she ran her fingers up Liara’s sides reverently. “I missed you,” she whispered, trailing kisses along the dusky blue skin that stretched over Liara’s jawbone. Her bondmate tilted her head to give Shepard better access, moving a hand up to tangle in her hair. “I thought you were dead,” she came the reply. Alina pulled back, a soft frown on her face. “Cerberus couldn’t take me away from you. The Reapers couldn’t take me away from you, and you can be for damn sure that a little bit of water won’t take me away from you, my heart. I made a promise,” she whispered, resting her forehead against Liara’s. Blue eyes met brown, and Alina remembers another time vividly. _It had been the first time she’d seen Illium. It was, as they said, a cultural marvel, but Alina couldn’t focus on the view. Liara was here, and she’d waived all the docking fees for them. Alina’s heart twisted in her chest when she realized it had only been a few months for her, but nearly two and a half years for her bondmate. She almost turned to look over her shoulder for someone, anyone. She’d gotten accustomed to never being alone in the past few months, to always having someone at her back. Now, she was alone, and she almost regretted it as she squared her shoulders and strode across the trading floor. It was sunset, and the light made everything glitter as she ascended the stairs. “Commander Alina Shepard? Doctor T’Soni has been waiting for you. Please enter when it’s convenient," says a lovely asari that must be Liara’s assistant. She swallows, wipes her palms on her dress, and smiles. “Of course, thank you. I…Can I take a moment?” she asked, her voice dropping down to a whisper. The asari smiled kindly and nodded, and Shepard took a moment to compose herself before palming the door’s controls and letting herself inside._

“I know you promised, Shepard, but that doesn’t make you invincible,” Liara says, and Alina can hear the pain that the last three years brought her. “I know, Blue. I know. And I should stop doing this stupid, reckless shit while I’m ahead. But I was thinking,” she said, and she gave Liara the look she always had when she got a bad idea. The look where one corner of her mouth quirked up and she got a glint in her eyes, and the look that Liara could very rarely resist. “Oh?” Liara asked, stepping back to lean against the opposite wall. Their poses mirrored each other; slouched over with their arms crossed, and their feet very nearly touching. “The Darkling. He’s locked down Os Alta, and even now he’s out there looking for me. We won’t get any rest until he’s dead, so I say we arrange that,” she says, leaning forward with a secret grin on her face. And, Athame help her, Liara would follow the woman in front of her through hell and back. Her fingers drifted to the bracelet around her wrist, and Liara gave her a feral smile in return. “That sounds like a wonderful idea. My contacts could help us, and I think even that insufferable Lantsov could be persuaded as well,” she answered. And so the planning began, and another year passed. 

* * *

When it is time for the attack on the Citadel, they have built up an army from nothing. Lantsov does indeed stand with them, as do all his people, and Alina leads the fight, pressing the Darkling’s forces back through the Wards Districts and the Presidium Districts. Liara and Lantsov both can’t help themselves from admiring the former Commander as she unleashes death and destruction on the battlefield, carving them a bloody path straight to the Darkling. “She’s kind of a force of nature, isn’t she?” Lantsov remarked, eyeing the Commander appreciatively. “She’s also mine,” Liara answered with gritted teeth as she dove behind cover. The bastard prince slid into place neatly beside her as Shepard lit up the entire battlefield with the blue of her biotics. “I’d be okay with both of you,” he said, a cheeky grin glinting in the dark. She scoffed, rolling her eyes as she leaned around the pillar and fired a few staccato bursts to distract the enemies. “In your dreams, Lantsov,” she said, although her voice had a touch of breathless laughter when she fell back into place. “Every night,” he returned, his shotgun blasting through one of the Darkling’s men. They made excellent time to the heart of the capital, to the heart of Ravka. 

The Darkling looks…smaller than Liara remembers, hunched over a counter with his back to them. “I knew you would find your way to me eventually, Shepard,” he says, and Liara can almost taste the bitterness he feels. “Forgive me if I’m late. I had to fight through a few thousand of your men on my way,” Shepard answers. Her tone is airy, but there is an undercurrent of molten steel, and the Darkling finally turns to face them, his arms spread as if in surrender. “I couldn’t make this easy,” he said, a faint smile turning his lips upward, like he and Shepard shared a secret. Liara and Lantsov kept their guns trained on him, ready to fire, ready to end this. “You can’t make anything easy,” Alina retorted, and stepped closer. She looked almost wistful, Liara realized, and she couldn’t get a read on the Darkling’s emotions. “You’re the one who fought me every step of the way,” he answered, his voice soft. “Oh, Aleksander,” she whispered sadly, and there was a flash of something on his face. It could have been pain, it was probably anger, but it was there. 

Alina stepped even closer, leaving her gun laying discarded on the counter so she could pin him against it. He stood three inches taller than her, but it was clear she had the upper hand.  The use of his name had unnerved him, and surprised Liara. Even she, with all her contacts, hadn’t known his name. The Darkling’s hand drifted up, resting on Shepard’s cheek, his thumb stroking gently along her skin. She gave him a smile, one that was far too sharp around the edges. “She wanted you to have a chance at redemption, you know,” Alina said, and the Darkling stilled, his breath catching in his throat. “How do you know?” he asked, and for a moment, Liara could almost see a lost little boy. “Because she told me. From the very beginning. And after…I kept looking at her. And all I could see was a woman who had been beautiful once. A woman who had given birth to a beautiful son, and a son who was going to bring ruin to the world. And all I could think about was why I had to stop you,” she said, pushing away from him. Liara could see the tears in her eyes even from where she stood, but she could also see the anger. “I did what I had to do!” the Darkling protested, age-old anger rising within him. Darkness licked at the corners of the room, the shadows stirring ominously. Alina waved her hand, and light pushed them back, a snarl on her face. 

“Like calls to like, but I am nothing like you. You will die knowing that you are alone. You killed your mother. It is your selfishness that caused all of this! There is always a better way!” she said, and she was starting to glow, unable to force the light back down. She was angry, but most of all she was still grieving. They were fighting a war, and they had been fighting a war, and Liara could see how it pained her. “How did we get here?” the Darkling asked, his voice soft and whisper-quiet. “Because you put us here,” she answered, stalking forward. A dagger glinted in her hand for a brief moment, and then it sunk into his chest. He let out a rasping choke. “Say it, please,” he begged, his fingers grasping at her armor. She slid to the floor, her arms wrapping around him. “Say my name,” he asked. “Aleksander,” she whispered, and she didn’t try to hide her tears. He was ancient, Liara knew, from what Alina had told her, but in this moment he was a boy, broken and burdened with eternity. His eyes fluttered shut, his grip slackening. “Don’t let me be alone,” he begged, and blood gurgled from his mouth. He let out one more rasping breath, and then he faded. 

Slowly, Liara lowered her gun, and Lantsov did the same beside her. Alina stayed, kneeling, her eyes shut as tears slipped past. Silently, Liara handed her gun to the man standing next to her and joined her bondmate, kneeling next to her on the bloodstained tile. “I’m here,” she whispered, and pulled the other girl into her arms. The Darkling’s body finally the floor as Alina cried. She cried for an old woman whose son would see reason, she cried for a man who couldn’t be saved, she cried for those she lost, and she cried because after all this time, she was finally free.


End file.
